


Lost In Translation

by EchoesOfOmens



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: A bit of German dialogue, F/M, Kinda reader insert but not really, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 00:44:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15545853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoesOfOmens/pseuds/EchoesOfOmens
Summary: In which Steven Rogers visits a German museum with a friend, accidentally gets stuck in a time warp, and finds himself in pre-WW2 Germany.AKA: A quickie crack fic that I'm pretty much just writing to practice my conversational German because hey, might as well, right?





	1. Prologue: Down the Rabbit Hole

**May 16, 2018 -- Berlin, Germany**

 

It was a beautiful day. The second day of our vacation, if you could even call it that. Steven Rogers and I were _technically_ on a mission, but the informant had been wrong about the location of our target; thus, here we were, strolling through a self-guided museum tour as though we were a normal couple. 

Steve seemed so relaxed, it was crazy. He should've been an actor. To think, he'd been here in Berlin just under 100 years ago. He truly _was_ a man out of time. We wove our way through the crowd, taking in all of the sights as our tour wound down. 

 

"Und hier sehen Sie eines der ältesten Artefakte im Museum Europäischer Kulturen..."

Steve paused as he observed a peculiar object sitting in the open air. It was on display as though it was _wanting_ to be touched.

It resembled a watch, but much older. It seemed as though it was rusted beyond repair, but it had the illusion of having _just_ been placed on its stand. Steve was frozen in front of it, his eyes unfocused. 

 

"Es wurde nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg im Keller eines renommierten Schuhmachers gefunden ..."

I squinted at the object, recognition dawning in my eyes. 

 

"Steve... Do you understand--?"

 

  
"Not all of it, that's what I have you for," He muttered. "But I know  _World War II_ when I hear it..." 

Steve's eyes were glued on the object, as though trying to place the name of an old friend. He reached out to touch it before I could stop him. 

I grabbed his other hand in surprise before the whole world went black.


	2. Wilkommen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now down to the heart of the matter mwahahaha  
> Also sorry in advance for any inconsistencies in the timeline or in locations, I'm one human bean with no betas so any mistakes are my own
> 
> Also sorry for all of the German dialogue but I warned y'all it was a language experiment for me so it's your own fault for reading it if that's not what ya want mmkay?

**December 30, 1924 -- Berlin, Germany**  

 

My pulse thudded in my head painfully. I cracked open my eyelids against the brightness of--was that a streetlamp? Steve groaned next to me and I struggled to remember what happened.  _Steve touched a watch-looking thing, and now we're on a street? How'd we get here?_  

 

"Sind Sie verletzt, Fraulein?" A hushed feminine voice sounded near me. 

I rolled to see a beautiful blonde kneeling at my side, her eyes wide and full of fear. 

 

"Hat er verletzen Sie?" She threw a wary glance at Steve's prone form. "Kennen Sie ihn?"

Once my vision stopped swimming, I understood and quickly tried to explain. 

 

"Nein, nein! Er ist mein Freund! Aber, ich weiß nicht, wo wir sind. Können Sie uns helfen?" 

Relief washed over her features, though she still seemed hesitant. 

 

"Viellecht. Ist er dein Verlobter?"

I squinted at her and sat up, checking on his vitals. He was breathing, but he was still unconscious. 

 

"Er--ich wünschte, er wäre es. Ich liebe ihn von ganzem Herzen." 

My eyes darted up to see her smiling at me softly. I felt my cheeks grow hot and hastily attempted to cover my tracks.

 

"Bitte, sag es ihm nicht! Ich bin nicht bereit für ihn zu wissen." 

She nodded knowingly. 

 

"So. Meine neue Freundin. Ich heiße Ilse Meier. Wie heißt du?" 

 

"Ich bin Lynne, und das ist Steven. Wir sind offensichtlich nicht von hier." I sat up more properly, eyeing our surroundings.

It was a quiet night on an empty cobblestone street. From her clothing, we were _not_ in Kansas anymore. A demure dark dress reached probably to about her ankles, with a white collar that draped over her collarbone. Her blonde hair was cut in a short bob that ended just below her ears. I avoided her curious gaze before shaking Steve's shoulders. 

 

"Steve!" I groaned in frustration when he didn't respond. _"Scheiße..."_

She giggled softly at my efforts. I finally slapped him across the cheek as hard as I could. Considering that I had higher-than-average strength as one of my superpowers, it was _quite_ a bitchslap. Steve's eyes fluttered and he grunted in pain. 

 

 _"Oww._ What was _that_ for?" He squinted at me incredulously before recognising we had company. "Um... hi?"

I turned to the girl who was smirking softly at us. 

 

"Sprichst du Englisch?"

She laughed, a light, bubbly sound. 

 

"Of course! I'm not a _heathen."_ She eyed Steve's muscley form as he sat up, too. "English is one of the first languages we must learn. It is the future, after all." 

 

"Well, ma'am, I have some questions for you: where are we, how did we get here, and who are _you?"_ Steve was, apparently, still grumpy from the wake-up smack. 

I poked his bicep. 

 

"Hey, behave!" 

He rolled his eyes as he waited for her to answer. The three of us stood up from the wet sidewalk, straightening our clothing. I winced--we would stand out like dandelions in a field of poppies. Steve wasn't horribly out of place; his khakis and plain white shirt could easily be adjusted; however I was wearing a white sundress that would probably look like a slip to someone like Ilse. No _wonder_ she thought I'd been violated or something.

 

"Wow. You really _aren't_ from around here, are you?" She blinked, her eyelashes fluttering as she made a decision. "No matter. To answer you--" She started counting on her fingers as she spoke, "--we are in Berlin, I don't know how you came to be here, and I am Ilse Meier." 

Suddenly, something clicked in my mind. 

 

"Oh-- _fuck_." I ignored the horrified look Ilse gave me as I stumbled on my feet. "Steve--remember that funny looking thing in the Museum of European Culture?" 

His eyes widened as he recalled the clocklike thing. He ran a hand down his face in defeat, his moan echoing down the deserted street.

 

"That wasn't a dream?" 

 

"Nope." I turned to a bewildered Ilse. "What year is it? Please don't say--!"

 

"It's December of 1924. Why wouldn't you know the year?" 

 

"It--It's, uh... That's a really--that's a long story." I let my head fall against his chest, hiding my face from the world that was no longer ours. I struggled to keep my breathing even, Steve's voice rumbling as he spoke. 

 

"Can you point us in the direction of the nearest inn or hotel?"

 

"Steve, they don't have the same currency that we have right now," I groaned against his chest. I peeked at Ilse, "You use the Reichsmark, am I correct?"

Ilse nodded, confusion etched into her features now more than ever. 

 

"Y-Yes," She muttered. "What, may I ask, do you have with you?"

Steve sighed. 

 

"You wouldn't understand! We're not from around here." 

Ilse glared at Steve, her demeanor changing in an instant. 

 

"I'm not stupid! You're obviously _Americans_ , that much I can tell. What _I_ can't figure, though, is how two Americans are in the middle of Berlin with their belongings still on them!" Her voice broke as it dropped barely above a whisper. "You Americans are all the same. Thinking that we're somehow less than you. Ever since you won that verdammt War, you think you're above everyone else. You have _no idea_ what you've done!"

Steve winced, his arm wrapping around me protectively. He seemed to remember something from long ago, his features softening. 

 

"I _do_ know. That's the thing." He glanced around, "Ilse, I apologize for my outburst. I was out of line. We're just scared. We don't know what happened to us, but what we _do_ know is that we don't belong here."  

Ilse sighed in defeat. 

 

"Fine. Come with me." She indicated over her shoulder and started walking. _"Mutter wird nicht erfreut sein."_  

Steve rolled his eyes. We started to follow her before he glanced at me, his eyebrow quirked. 

 

"You know, I _can_ speak German. I'm not _fabulously_ fluent, but I've picked up enough bits and pieces here and there to survive on my own." He snickered as my cheeks turned pink. He pulled me closer to his side. "I know there's something you don't want me to know. I _will_ find out what it is."

His breath sent chills down my spine as we disappeared into the night.

 

 


End file.
